ABSTRACT
The year 1826 was a black one for Ludwig van Beethoven. The Philharmonic Society asked for the return of the £100, as the money had not been used to the relief of Beethoven; but they yielded to the plea of Moscheles that they should forego their claim " in honour of the great deceased," and for the benefit of Carl. In the upshot, however, Beethoven stayed two months. He seems to have had as happy a time as was to be expected, seeing that he was ill, and that he was under the same roof as his old aversion, Johann Beethoven's disreputable wife. Beethoven returned to Vienna on December 2nd, haying, it appears, caught a chill on the journey—whether from exposure owing to Johann's failure to provide him with a closed carriage, or from the wretched accommodation at a village inn where a night was spent en route, is uncertain.
